Packaging and packaging method for patches made of a textile material

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a packaging for patches made of a textile material, including a substrate provided with an adhesive coating on at least one of its surfaces, wherein the coating forms an adhesive film suitable to receive and hold a plurality of patches made of a textile material, the packaging further includes a plurality of patches arranged on the substrate according to a predefined pattern, and wherein the adhesive coating is a made of a cold seal adhesive. The invention also relates to a packaging method for the patches.

The present invention relates to a packaging and a packaging method torpatches made of a textile material, and in particular patches forcleaning firearms.

In the field of firearms, e.g. for use in sports, the need for cleaninga firearm after every use is very much felt. In addition to cleaning themechanisms related to the trigger and the loading of ammunitions, a goodcleaning of cavities, such as e.g. the bore and the drum, through whichammunitions pass is very important. Dirt and dust in fact are moreeasily accumulated in cavities such as here and drum. In addition tothis, residues of gunpowder mixed with the lubricant normally used tokeep a firearm fully efficient are also accumulated in the bore and thedram. The lack of or poor maintenance of a firearm results in wear andmalfunction during use, and may result in inaccurate shooting.

Generally, the cleaning of the bore or the drum of a firearm is carriedout mechanically by brushing and/or with the help of special chemicalsolvents. After mechanical and/or chemical cleaning, it is necessary tocarry out a lubrication step, which is generally carried out usingpatches made of a textile material soaked in special oils.

It is known that patches made of a textile material may advantageouslybe used as an. alternative to brushes in order to mechanically clean afirearm, winch is preferable because they are very cheap and disposableproducts and unlike most of the brushes they can be used with firearmsof different calibers.

In order to clean a firearm a user must first use one or more patchessoaked in a solution of solvent/detergent to remove dirt and dust fromthe cavities of the firearm, then wipe these cavities with one or moreclean patches and finally lubricate the cavities with one or more ofpatches soaked in oil. It is therefore clear that any maintenance workinvolves the use of a large number of patches.

Patches made of textile materials are generally packed in bags or boxesin which they are stacked. Since textile materials typically compriseraised fibers on their surfaces, stacked patches are easily engaged witheach other, whereby it is very likely that a user picks up more than onepatch at a time from the packaging and subsequently has to separate thepate lies and store them back into the packaging.

In addition, the user must take care not to disperse the content of thepackaging once it has been opened. A possible fall would cause foulingof the patches, thus compromising the cleaning of the firearm, or evenmaking the patches unusable.

Object of the present invention is therefore to provide a packaging anda packaging method for patches made of a textile material that allow tofacilitate withdrawal of individual patches, while minimizing the riskof dispersing them in the outer environment. This object is achievedwith a packaging and a packaging method, whose main features arespecified in claims 1 and 8, respectively, while other features arespecified in the remaining claims.

An idea of solution underlying the present invention is to store thepatches in the packaging so that they do not overlap each other. To thispurpose the patches are arranged adjacent to each other on a substrateof the packaging configured to hold them thereon. An adhesive coating isformed on the surface of the substrate intended to receive and hold thepatches. The substrate of the packaging thus allows the user to pick upone patch at a time very easily without any risk of dispersing the otherpatches into the environment, because they are firmly attached to thesubstrate.

The substrate of the packaging may advantageously be made in the form ofsheet or strip, allowing to wind it in a reel and possibly to arrange itin a suitable dispenser of the packaging. This solution has the effectof greatly reducing the overall dimensions of the packaging and tofacilitate the removal of the individual textile patches.

It is also an idea of solution to form the adhesive coating on thesubstrate surface intended to receive and hold the patches by using a“cold seal” adhesive, which has a surprising holding capacity forpatches made of a textile material and does not leave any residue onthem when they are withdrawn from the substrate. This feature isextremely important in the invention, because it allows to pick uppatches from the substrate that are perfectly clean. Any residues ofadhesive, in fact, would penalize cleaning of the firearm and alsocompromise its proper operation.

Another advantage of the invention is that the adhesive coating may bemade on both the opposite surfaces of the substrate, thus allowing tosubstantially double the number of patches that can be stored in thepackaging,

Further advantages and features of the packaging and packaging methodaccording to the present invention will be clear to those skilled in theart from the following detailed and non limiting description ofembodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a top view of a substrate of a packaging according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 schematically shows a longitudinal section of the substrate ofthe packaging of FIG. 1 taken along line II-II;

FIG. 3 shows a detail III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the substrate of the packagingaccording to the invention; and

FIG. 5 shows a detail V of FIG. 4.

Referring to the figures, the packaging 1 according to the inventioncomprises a substrate 2, e.g. made of paper or of a plastic material, onwhich an adhesive coating 3 is formed. The adhesive coating 3 adheres tothe substrate 2 forming a film suitable to receive and hold a pluralityof patches 4 made of a textile material.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, the substrate 2 is in the formof a strip and is designed so as to allow to arrange a plurality ofpatches 4 along a straight line. Alternatively, the substrate 2 might bein the form of a sheet, e.g. a standard A4 size, allowing to arrange diepatches 4 according to a predefined pattern.

Substrates 2 in the form of a strip or sheet may be easily wound inreels in order to minimize the overall dimensions of the packaging.

It will be noted that, differently from the case of stickers that areprovided with an adhesive coating and are packed on substrates having asubstantially non-stick surface, in the invention the adhesive coatingis applied to the substrate 2 itself and not to the patches 4 that willbe fixed thereon. This solution allows to keep the patches free from theadhesive used for their packaging, which is desirable because traces ofadhesive would make the patches totally unsuitable for cleaning.

During the manufacture of the packaging 1 according to the invention,the substrate 2 is coated with an adhesive, for example, by means of agravure roll, and then processed, for example in an oven, so as toremove solvents and fix the adhesive coating 3 on the substrate 2, Thesubstrate 2 so treated is then coupled in a continuous way with a layerof a textile material, on which a plurality of shapes corresponding tothe patches 4 may be obtained by die cutting.

In the embodiment shown in the figures, the patches 4 have, for example,a substantially circular central body 4 a from which a plurality ofrectangular flaps 4 b extend radially outwards.

The surface of the substrate 2 opposite to the surface on which theadhesive coating 3 is formed may be treated with a non-stick materialsuch as silicone, in order to prevent fouling phenomena during storingand/or adhesion between adjacent reels when winding the substrate 2 withthe patches 4 in order to form a reel.

The adhesive coating 3 must provide sufficient adhesion in order to holdthe patches 4 on the substrate 2, but such to allow at the same timewithdrawal of the patches 4 therefrom without deforming or tearing them.

According to the invention, the adhesive coating 3 formed on thesubstrate 2 is made of an adhesive from the family of “cold seal”adhesives. Cold seal adhesives are currently very common in themanufacturing of sealings of flexible packagings tor medical and foodproducts and are generally based on natural or synthetic rubber latex.

One of the main characteristics of these adhesives is that they adheresubstantially only on themselves by simply pushing, whereby a substratecoated with a cold seal adhesive has substantially no adhesive powerwhen not coupled to another substrate coated with the same adhesive.

Nevertheless, the inventor has found that cold seal adhesives cansurprisingly hold materials such as cotton textiles and woven-non-woventextiles based on viscose, polypropylene, polyester or mixtures thereof,i.e. textile materials that are normally used for the manufacture ofpatches for cleaning firearms.

The inventor has also tested that, unlike other adhesives that could beused for the manufacturing of the adhesive coating 3, e.g. acrylicadhesives and hot melt adhesives, cold seal adhesives do not leavetraces on the textile patches 4 when these are withdrawn from thesubstrate 2, thus allowing the user to use patches that are perfectlyclean and thus suitable for the cleaning of a firearm.

Among the cold seal adhesives available on the market, those based onaqueous dispersions of rubber latex, and in particular synthetic rubberlatex, are considered more effective for the manufacturing of theadhesive coating 3.

As explained above, except that cold seal adhesives have the ability toretain textile materials, they normally adhere on themselves only.Therefore, it is possible to remove from the substrate 2 portions of thetextile layer that have a shape complementary to the shape of thepatches 4 as they result after die cutting. This facilitates the userwhen picking up a patch 4 from the substrate 2, because the patches 4are free from the scrap material that surrounds them during theirmanufacturing. Furthermore, the removal of the scrap material does notpenalize the substrate 2, because the portions of the adhesive coating 3that are exposed to the outer environment after removing the scrapportions have no adhesive power with respect to other materials, inparticular dust or dirt, thus showing a behavior that is essentiallyidentical to that of an uncoated substrate.

Therefore, a possible winding of the substrate 2 in a reel does notnecessarily require an anti-stick treatment, e.g. by silicone, of thesurface opposite to that on which the adhesive coating 3 is formed, thusallowing to simplify the manufacturing process of the packaging 1 and toreduce its overall costs.

Possible anti-stick treatments may anyway be foreseen in order to moreeffectively protect the surfaces of the substrate 2 that are not coatedwith adhesive from fouling due to dust and to the contact with otherobjects over time.

According to an alternative embodiment of the invention, shown infigures 4 and 5, the adhesive coating 3 is formed on both the oppositesurfaces of the substrate 2, thereby essentially doubling the number ofpatches 4 that can be stored in the packaging 1.

In this case during manufacturing, the substrate 2 is coated on both itsopposite surfaces with an adhesive, e.g. by means of gravure cylinders,and then processed, e.g. in an oven, so as to remove solvents and fixboth the adhesive coatings 3 on the opposite surfaces of the substrate2. The substrate 2 so treated is then continuously coupled on both thecoated surfaces with layers made of a textile material, on which aplurality of patches 4 may be obtained by die cutting.

Similarly to the substrates having an adhesive coating on one surfaceonly, also substrates having and adhesive coating on both surfaces maybe wound in a reel. If the scrap is removed beforehand, as describedabove, it is clear that in this case local adhesion between adjacentcoils may occur due to the fact that cold seal adhesives adhere onthemselves. In order to avoid this problem, it is therefore possible toarrange a layer of a non-stick material when winding the substrate 2,thus allowing to keep the coils of the reel separate from each other andto facilitate the user when removing fire patches 4.

The embodiments of tire invention herein described and illustrated hereare only examples susceptible of numerous variants. For example, thepackaging 1 may comprise a container suitable to house the substrate 2wound in a reel. Moreover, the container may include a support suitableto rotatably support the reel and a slit suitable to allow to withdraw,unwind and/or to cut the substrate 2. Still further, the substrate 2 maybe provided with a plurality of perforations, placed between adjacentpatches 4 and suitable to facilitate the separation of portions of thesubstrate 2 together with the patches 4 by tearing.

1. A packaging for patches made of a textile material, comprising asubstrate provided with an adhesive coating on at least one of itssurfaces, wherein said coating forms an adhesive film suitable toreceive and hold a plurality of patches made of a textile material, saidpackaging further comprising a plurality of patches arranged on saidsubstrate and contacting said coating according to a predefined pattern,and wherein said adhesive coating is a made of a cold seal adhesive. 2.A packaging according to claim 1, wherein said cold seal adhesiveconsists of an aqueous dispersion of rubber latex.
 3. A packagingaccording to claim 2, wherein said rubber latex is a synthetic rubberlatex.
 4. A packaging according to claim 1, wherein said substrate is inthe form of a strip or a sheet.
 5. A packaging according to claim 1,wherein only one surface of the substrate is coated with the adhesivecoating and the opposite surface is treated with a non-stick substance.6. A packaging according to claim 1, further comprising a containersuitable to house a substrate wound in a reel.
 7. A packaging accordingto claim 6, wherein said container is provided with a supporting membersuitable to rotatably support said reel and with a slit suitable toallow to unwind the substrate by pulling and/or to cut it.
 8. A methodfor the manufacturing of a packaging for patches made of a textilematerial, said method comprising the steps of: i) providing a substrate;ii) forming an adhesive coating on at least one surface of saidsubstrate; iii) coupling in a continuous way a layer of a textilematerial with the adhesive coating formed on the at least one surface ofsaid substrate and iv) die-cutting said layer of a textile material soas to form a plurality of patches therein, wherein the adhesive used toform the adhesive coating is a cold seal adhesive.